Brassiere



Jan. 5, 1965 c. G. SIMONSEN BRASSIERE Filed June 22, 1962 INVENTOR. Gar!6. Simansen BY 9 a Attorney United States Patent 3,164,154 BRASSIERECarl G. Siinonsen, 826 5. Winchester Road, San Jose, Calif. Filed June22, 1962., Ser. No. 204,488 1 Claim. (Cl. 123-486) This inventionrelates to improvement in brassieres, or bust supports.

An object of the invention is to provide a brassiere, or bust support,which will give firm yet yielding uplift while allowing the breasts ofthe wearer to assume a substantially normal condition although ashoulder strap support may be pulled out of a normal uprightsupportposition by turning, twisting, stooping, or other body movements of thewearer.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provided ahammock type breast support having a looped hanger ribbon which issupported medially thereof and above a breast by a trapeze type keepersecured at the end of a shoulder strap.

It is a further object of the invention to prevent the rolling into astring of a ribbon hanger as the garment is worn, and specifically toprovide an ironing action upon a hanger ribbon as the garment is worn.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from thefollowing description when taken together with the accompanying drawingin which an embodiment of the invention is disclosed, and in which theseparate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in eachof the views, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a brassiere embodying the principlesof the invention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmented detail of the shoulder strap keeperending and hammock hanger ribbon.

This invention will best be understood in a background of informationconcerning prior developments. For information only, and not with theintention to compare one garment with another, reference is made toUnited States Patent No. 2,470,847 issued May 24, 194-7, and No.3,003,206 issued May 8, 1962. These patents illustrate a type ofstructure of a nature somewhat similar to the present invention withlooped suspension ribbons. The looped support ribbons are sewn in afixed position to the ends of the shoulder straps or slide in cloth eyesin the strap ends. Hence, as the wearer flexes her shoulders, theshoulder straps place an uneven pull upon the support ribbons whichcannot adjust in any manner, or the hanger straps roll into the form ofa round cord.

In contrast with these prior types of structures, which referencedstructures are only two of a plurality of such which could be used asillustrative of the prior art, reference is had to the illustrations ofthe accompanying drawing in conjunction with the following description.

In the brassiere, breast cups 10, 11 and their backward extensions 12,13 form covers for the breasts and the pectoris lateralis, respectively,of the wearer. The extensions are joined together across the back of thewearer by hooks 14 sewed to one of the extensions and eyes whichcooperate with such hooks, and which eyes are secured to an adjacent oneend of an elastic strip 15 which is sewed at its other end to the otherextension, and which strip extends across the back of the wearer totension the brassiere to and around the chest of the wearer.

Arranged within the cups 10, 11 are primary shelf like supportingmembers 17, 18 which are designed to contact and support the breasts ofthe wearer. These members are, preferably, composed of a stiff materialhaving a soft inner face like that of a flannel fabric, and areconsiderably heavier than the outer covering cups 10, 11. The upperedges 19, 20 of the shelves l7, 18 are rounded longitudinally so thateach such edge conforms to a breast 3,164,154 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 iceslightly below its nipple and so that each member conforms to one of thebreasts of the wearer of the garment. Each of the shelves 17, 18 isjoined along its lower edge to a band 21 which is held against theinframmales portion of the wearers chest. This band is sewed to thebackward extensions 12, 13 of the cups along its lower edge and therebyintegrated therewith.

The support of this inner contoured shelf is achieved by an improvedshoulder strap and hanger construction, including a left shoulder strap25 and a right shoulder strap 26 adapted to lie on and over opposite andrespective shoulders of a person wearing the brassiere and to therebyprovided primary suspension therefor. Strap 25 is sewn to the top edgeof the backward left extension 12 at 27 and strap 26 is sewn to the topedge of the other extension 13 at 28. Each strap 25 and 26 ends in abuckle 29, 30, just adjacent the top of the hammock structure.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail of the left breast buckle 29 and itsattachments, fragmented and reversed in view from FIGURE 1, and it willbe seen clearly from this enlarged figure that each of the buckles 29,30 carries a short length of cloth 35 referred to as a link strap. Thelink straps 35 is secured to the upper bar of and supports a doubleloop, three bar, keeper, 36 having a central trapeze bar 37. Thenomenclature of trapeze bar will be obvious when it is considered thatthis keeper and its bars are free to swing and twist in the manner of atrapeze.

The improved and novel suspension which provides a degree of comfortheretofore unavailable by prior constructions, is achieved by the use ofsuch trapeze bars and flat ribbon hangers 38 and 39 carried by suchbars. Left breast shelf hanger 38 is sewn at its right end to the mesnearea of the shelf structure at 40, and hanger 39 is sewn at its left endto the same area at 41. Thisarea being where the two shelves 17, 18 arejoined together over the sternalis of the wearer. The right breast shelfribbon hanger 39 is sewn at its right end to the right end portion ofthe shelf 17 at the area indicated by the reference character 42. Theextreme left end of the left ribbon hanger 38 is sewn to the left endportion of the left shelf portion 18, but this area is obstructed fromview in FIGURE 1 by the left cup extension 12.

Each of the ribbon hangers 38, 39 is led to the middle trapeze bar 37 ofits respective keeper 36, and there caused to pass over and around themiddle bar in a half twist of the ribbon so that the opposite endportions of the ribbon will present opposite faces of the ribbon to theskin surface of the wearer as the ribbon diverges from the trapeze bar.The ribbon is slidably engaged over the trapeze bar and, hence, as thebody movements of the wearer cause the shoulder strap to move, theribbon hanger may slide over the trapeze bar so that it will givesupport where needed without placing undue strain upon either thegarment or the wearer. Hence, comfort is achieved both by a full supportand equal tension along the ribbon at all times Without any bindingaction, and by the fact that each support ribbon has no tendency to rollup into a skin irritating cord or string but rather is constantly ironedinto a fiat condition as the garment is worn. The bottom bar of thethree of the keeper 36 is outside of the adjacent ribbon portions andaway from the wearer. This bottom bar aids in keeping the ribbon flat.The ribbon hangers are of a length so that each will conform to and lieadjacent the upper edge of its respective breast. By this means ofsupporting each shelf with a ribbon having an end secured to the shelfat opposite sides of the breast of a wearer, the shelf acts somewhat asa hammock for the support of the breast.

In the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed, each of thecups 10, 11 is held upwardly in position to cover a breast by theprovision of a small loop which is not visible in the drawing, and byhooking this loop over 3 a book 45 of a shoulder strap buckle 29, 30which, also supports the link strap 35.

The illustrated and described garment is the result of actual testingover a considerable period of time and the description hereafter of itsoperation is proven by experience. The shelf structure 17, 18 isattached only. in the pectoris lateralis regions to the outer cover cupextensions 12,13 and, hence, is a free support with respect to the cups10, 11. The inner shelf structure is suspended on the ribbons 38, 39which act as hangers extending to spaced apart areas of each of theindependent shelf por tions 17 and 18. The ribbons hang on a trapeze bar37 by a half twist loop. That is, when a ribbon is extended through thekeeper 36 and over the trapeze bar 37, it would normally hang onopposite sides of the bar in the usual manner. These ends then aredirected in opposite directions to the places where they are secured.Thus, it will be seen that opposite face surfaces of the ribbon contactthe body of the wearer according to which side of the trapeze bar theribbon is on. Furthermore, this dividing point is shiftable according tothe pull of the shoulder strap or of the shelves l7, 18. The importantthing is that shifting is available and that the shifting actuallycauses the ribbon to be ironed as it moves over the trapeze bar. Thus,the ribbon is not only held across a bar to prevent its rolling into astring, but the movement continually irons the ribbon, keeps it fiat,and avoids stringing of the ribbon. Formation of ribbons into a stringis a common situation in prior efforts wherein a free suspension hasbeen attempted. Such stringing makes the garment absolutely unbearableto the wearer, and, hence, such garments have been quickly discarded.The present invention operates smoothly and the ribbons stay in a flatcondition. The invention gives freedom of movement with absolutecomfort.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in whatis conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of theinvention which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosedherein but is to be aiforded the full scope of the claim, inwhich, Iclaim:

A brassiere having a breast supporting hammock inner structure and acovering cup outer structure having backward extensions, said hammockstructure including a contoured shelf formed into two adjacent sectionsjoined to gether at a mesne area and each adapted to assume a roundedpocket form to undergird a breast of a wearer, and each said sectionhaving a top edge curved lengthwise thereof and extending from aposition lateral of a breast When Worn to said mesne junction area, apair of shoulder straps, each strap having a back end and a front end,each shoulder strap adapted to loop over an opposite shoulder of aperson wearing such brassiere, each strap having its back end secured toa backward extension and a length adjusting buckle secured to the frontend of such strap for adjustment of the buckle along such strap, eachsaid buckle having a plurality of spaced apart bars parallel to eachother so that said buckle has exterior bars interior bars, and suchstrap being looped around one of said interior bars of such buckle, adouble loop keeper having two exterior bars and an interior bar, a linkstrap loop looping an exterior bar of said keeper and an interior bar ofsaid buckle and not looping other bars, a pair of fiat ribbon hangers,one each slidably looped over the interior bar but not an exterior barof said keeper, each ribbon hanger formed with a half twist from end toend thereof, one end of each of said ribbon hangers being secured tosaid mesne area and the other ends to separate lateral extensions ofsaid shelf, and means for securing one of said covering cups to anexterior bar of each of said buckles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,454,153 11/48Glick 128-483 2,632,168 3/53 Kaufman l285ll 3,033,206 5/62 Ramselll28484 LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner.

ADELE NI. EAGER, Examiner.

